I always wanted to be a scout but was not able to be one. My daughter decided she wanted to be a GS and then I said I could not run a troop but could help so I did for many years. One year her leader said “I can’t do it any more!” so the other lady and I talked it over and our girls were still interested so we said between the 2 of us we can do this so we did for many years. My daughter(Ashley) was going in 11th grade and had to decide on a senior project and all the other girls were quitting due to too much going on in their lives. So she said can I start a new GS troop with the funds we have left and it will be my senior project. Talked to the school and the GS leaders and it was decided she would start with kindergartners and I would still be the leader but she would be running the troop and getting parents involved to take over when she graduated. We started with 12 girls and 9 girls graduated in June 2019. I was told by the parent who took over you can’t leave until they are done. Ashley also started another troop in her senior year to complete her senior project- wasn’t sure this troop was going to make it but I can say it is one of the largest troops in our SU – they have appx. 65 girls in various levels with at least 2 leaders for each level. This is how I got started and I found I love being around the girls seeing what they can do and what they want to do – sometimes they succeed sometimes it is a failure but they try and learn. So a few years ago the SUM wanted to step back and no one would step up so I took that position as a temporary (I keep telling the leaders this- LOL). I am still the SUM and have thought about quitting but I enjoy the girls and in about a year I will have a granddaughter old enough to join. I hope this program keeps going and I hope adults (not just parents) will join to help girls see what they can accomplish and how far they can go in life.
